I decided to keep my year wrap up short. From Bottom to top:
Our trip to Cabo San Lucas celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary (bottom)
Dedicating a bench to my wife's Grandmother Lillian Eldridge on the Prom in Seaside Oregon (middle)
Labor Day at Cabin in Packwood, WA (top)

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Joe Drazan's Bygone Walla Walla blog continually posts memories of my hometown. Shep's Pool Hall was long gone by the time I was 21. But lives on in people's memory. The rare "Bubble Up" sign is what caught my eye in this picture.

We returned from work last night to find a dusting of snow on the ground at our Maple Valley home. It was the first snow we had seen in a long time. Most of it had melted by the morning. If your dreaming of a white Christmas, the weatherman say no.

Monday, December 21, 2015

Turtles lead singer Howard Kaylan, whose classic 1960s hit "Happy Together" became a pop classic, is a Seattle resident and a customer at our Bellevue UPS Store. He was kind enough to autograph a copy of his 2013 book, Shell Shocked. Kaylan also played in Frank Zappa's band, "The Mothers". He was on stage in Switzerland when the venue caught fire. That was the inspiration for the band Deep Purple to write the rock classic "Smoke On The Water".

Sunday, December 20, 2015

The Seahawks will be back in the Playoffs as they beat the Cleveland Browns 30-13 victory. Russell Wilson threw for 3 touchdowns to lead the 'Hawks to their 5th straight victory. Russell Wilson became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for at least 3 touchdowns with no interceptions for 5 consecutive games.
Quite a turnaround for the Seahawks, who had a less than spectacular start to this NFL season.

Lona Wilbur has announced that she will not run for a third term as one of Washington's representatives to the DNC. Wilbur, known for her warm smile and heartfelt speeches, was one of 4 members of the Washington delegation. The representatives are chosen by the Washington State Democratic Central Committee, of which I am a member. Wilbur is a member of the Swinomish Tribe and is completing her 8th year on the committee. Among the duties of the DNC is picking the DNC chair, who is pretty much the face of the Democratic Party.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

In the 1960s and 1970s, the late Allan Sherman would do parodies on songs, much like Weird Al would in later times. This song, somewhat dated, would get play on KTEL, the rock station when I was a kid around the holiday season.

Friday, December 11, 2015

It's the second Beatle album that I've owned. Rubber Soul was a gift from my baby sitter, who knew my love of the group. This month marks the 50th anniversary of the release of the album.
What the album marks in music history, though, is indeed significant. It really was the first Beatles album with a seemingly cohesive theme. However, in this article in the Wall Street Journal, Marc Myers writes that the theme of the US version of the album was "engineered" by Dave Dexter. The irony is that Dexter has been vilified by both the Beatles and rock music fans for editing the groups musical efforts, mostly favoring commerce over art.
The album marked a turn by the group from a teen age dance style music to a more adult acoustical sound and is credited to influencing artists such as Brian Wilson and Stevie Wonder.

Wednesday, December 09, 2015

Commutes were delayed this morning by overflowing rivers and creeks after two daysof steady rain and a nasty windstorm. This picture was taken at Newport Way and Front Street in Issaquah. Also, stretch of Highway 169 from Cedar Grove to Jones Rd was closed due to flooding.

Tuesday, December 08, 2015

I went into Creed with the lowest of expectations. The Rocky Balboa character, once a hallmark in film achievement, had become totally cartoonish. You just couldn't take it seriously after watching the many sequels.
This movie features the son of Apollo Creed, Rocky's arch rival and later friend who died fighting a robot like Russian in Rocky IV. Adonis Creed, played by Michael B. Jordan was conceived in Apollo's extra marital affair. Apollo's widow, looks up the angry boy, who seemingly can't help getting into fights, She wishes to raise the boy, who had lost his mother to an undisclosed death.
Adonis quits his job as a financier to attempt to become a professional boxer.
I think the reason this works is the movie deserts comedy which is where Rocky sequels turned and gotten back to drama. Rocky is back in Philadelphia, seemingly near broke, his wife and best friends are gone. In other words, the show goes back to it's roots. As a result, you get that feel good feeling that the first Rocky, almost 40 years ago, was able to deliver and that sequels were not.

Monday, December 07, 2015

Saturday, December 05, 2015

It's that time of the year, Adam has released his 4th version of the Chanukah song in a 20 year span, so at that rate, he should have a song for each night by the time I'm 80. Happy Chanukah and Seasons Greetings!